VOTERS IN Northeast Philadelphia will fill an empty seat in the city's House delegation in a special election on March 14, when they choose a replacement for former state Rep. Alan Butkovitz.

Butkovitz, a Democrat, was elected city controller in November and took office in January.

The district, the 174th, straddles Roosevelt Boulevard, including big chunks of Bustleton and Rhawnhurst and running south to Oxford Circle.
[...]
Environmental activist Staci [sic] Confer, 35, a founder of the non-profit citizens group Action PA, is opposing Sabatina as the Green Party's nominee. For the last eight years, Confer said, she’s been active in fights against incinerators, landfills, coal plants and other projects, including opposition to the pending proposal to build a liquiefied natural gas terminal along the Delaware River.
[...]

Jewish Exponent 2/22/2006
This Time, She's Really Prepared for a Serious Run for Office
- Joshua Runyan

The last time Traci Confer ran for office, she garnered only 532 votes. But that race wasn't for keeps, she says, a fact she plans to make up for this time around.

Confer will face Democrat John Sabatina Jr. and Republican Charles R. Ebsworth Sr. as the Green Party's candidate in the March 14 special election to fill the seat of state Rep. Alan Butkovitz (D-District 174). Butkovitz left the office in November after being elected Philadelphia City Controller.

Of her 2002 run for state Senate, Confer, 35, claims that she "really wasn't running that time."

The Green Party was placing candidates in most races that year, she explains, and her first foray into public politics was a way to get the party noticed: "It was for the sake of having a name on, I'm afraid. But this time, it's more serious."

What that means is that Confer is taking as much time as she can from her full-time environmental activism - she co-founded the group ActionPA and fixes computers to pay the bills - to mail out literature and call on voters. She wants to implement a universal health-care plan for the state.

She also stands "behind the national platform" of the Green Party, according to campaign coordinator Charles Sherrouse, which calls for divestment from the State of Israel.

Northeast Times 2/2/2006
Trio to square off in 174th
By Tom Waring

Three candidates will compete in the March 14 special election in the 174th Legislative District.

The candidates are Democrat John Sabatina Jr., Republican Charles R. Ebsworth Sr. and the Green Party’s Traci Confer.

The seat has been vacant since the beginning of January, when Alan Butkovitz resigned to become city controller.

Sabatina, a 35-year-old former assistant district attorney from Rhawnhurst, is the overwhelming favorite in the heavily Democratic district.

Republicans are not expected to make a concerted effort to win the race. The GOP struggled to find a candidate by last week’s deadline. Glenn Romano, an attorney who faced Butkovitz in 2002, declined to run because of work obligations, so the party turned to Ebsworth, who lives on Benton Street in Bell’s Corner.

Confer, a computer consultant from Castor Gardens, ran for the 2nd Senatorial District seat in 2002, receiving 1 percent of the vote against Democratic Sen. Tina Tartaglione and Republican Gary Feldman. If elected, she would focus on issues such as health care, the environment and neighborhood development.

The winner will serve the remaining 11 months of Butkovitz’s term and will have to run in the May 16 primary for a full two-year term.

Campaign Press Release 1/25/2006